Select Local Merchants

With an expansive 26,000 square feet, VQ Fitness owns more than enough real-estate for its comprehensive services. The gym hosts personal-training sessions with nationally certified trainers and fun, engaging group-fitness classes. The floor holds 75 cardio machines?each equipped with a TV?and there's even room for a pro shop stocked with nutrient-filled drinks and supplements. After intense workouts, members can freshen up in private showers or gain a healthy glow in the level-4 standup tanning booth.

Curves' 30-minute workout whittles women with a signature circuit
of hydraulic resistance machines designed to work with female bodies and promote weight loss, protect against osteoporosis, and deal with arthritis. Ladies can hop into the circuit circle at any of 13 strength-training stations, each of which works to tone two major muscle groups. After 30 seconds of repetitions, they step onto a nearby recovery board, which welcomes women to walk, jog, or speed-skate in place for a half-minute. This cardio burst jolts the heart rate, torching more calories as exercisers move onto the next resistance-training machine. An experienced trainer is always nearby to help manage participants’ machine maneuvering and Play Doh–based muscle making.

Getting into shape can often be intimidating. That's why the trainers at Xcelerate Fitness do their best to create a comfortable, community-centric space where clients can feel encouraged and respected as they follow their path toward physical well being. Whether finding their own way through the fully stocked gym, joining an energetic group class, or enlisting the aid of a professional trainer, clients can find the kind of workout that fits their personality and needs.

Leo Costa, Jr. has experienced a lot in his three-decades-long fitness career—working with celebrities and being awarded Mr. USA by the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association, to name a few—but his masterpiece is the Automatic Fitness program. Developed over the course of 20 years, the program revolves around three elements: nutrition, weight training, and cardio. By using something he has coined "micro circuit training"—which is essentially a constantly changing batch of exercises—Costa, Jr. can keep muscles engaged and eliminate workout plateaus. Also helping to eliminate workout slumps is the program's frequency: only three 30-minute weight-training and cardio workouts per week.

Members of Evolutions Fitness & Wellness receive access to more than 100 weekly fitness classes, rows of cardio and strength-training equipment, a lap pool, plush locker rooms, childcare services, and a slew of other gym perks. That's not what separates Evolution from other facilities, though. Its distinction as the fitness center for Tulare Regional Medical Center does. And the facility's medically minded take on fitness is evident, from the therapy pool and wellness seminars to fitness assessments and doctor vs. doctor bench-press contests.